The Left Hand of God
by Barn and Co
Summary: when the TV turns into a portal and sucks Buffy into the past -Transylvania, 19th century- the Scoobies and Spike have to work together to get her back. But the thing is, does she want to? And can they actually get her back? It's not quite Spuffy...
1. Buffy's Gone

**Chapter 1**

Buffy looked towards the horizon. It was the first time she'd been able to see through all the trees and she was impressed with what she saw, though it wasn't ideal.

In front of her stood a massive abyss, and on the other side, she could faintly make out a small village. Wherever the hell she had ended up, she hoped it wasn't some alternate reality where everyone she thought she knew were demons and vampires. She couldn't face killing them, even in an alternate reality.

She fished around in her pocket for her phone and pulled it out. No reception.

"Crap. That is so not good" Buffy mumbled.

She sighed and placed it back in her pocket. It was getting dark and she hoped she would make it to the village before then. She had no idea of what lurked in the shadows here, and even though she was a slayer, she wasn't willing to find out just yet.

With a new determination, she braced herself against the oncoming cold and set off.

~**~

Willow sat on the couch worrying. It had been less than two hours since Buffy disappeared without a word. One minute she was talking to her about having a girly night, the next she was gone. Poof! Just with no smoke.

She had no idea where she had gone; which was bad because Willow was meant to be helping Buffy prep for the exam type thing Giles was planning for her. Well if Giles was actually going to give her one. They'd had an argument of some sort and Buffy had been ranting about it, as well as yelling at Spike to keep the TV volume down. _Spike._

"Spike?" the witch called. There was no answer. She ventured into the lounge room where he had last been. The TV remained on, but there was no signal. Just static. Willow walked form room to room calling for the vampire, knowing he was here somewhere. It was broad daylight outside and she knew for a fact that he would have a little too much fun making Buffy's life miserable right now and would decide to stay. He had to be in the house somewhere. She checked the study, the kitchen where she had left her potion that she had been dabbling with, Joyce's old room, Dawn's room, everywhere. The last place she expected to find Spike was curled up half naked in Buffy's bed with her underwear in hand.

"Spike have you… Oh" she was shocked at the sight before her. it wasn't everyday that she saw something like this.

Spike sat up and smirked. "Like what you see Red?"

Willow blushed then remembered what she was originally going to ask him. "Have you seen Buffy? I can't find her"

Spike ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head. "Not since she told me t' keep it down, down stairs"

"Oh ok. I'll let you get back to… er, whatever you were doing" Willow ducked out the door as quick as she could.

Spike shrugged and decided to try to sleep. He lay back down and was soon asleep with Buffy's underwear lying next to him.

Willow wandered outside and found Xander, Dawn and Tara all doing some sort of yoga. As soon as Xander saw her approach however, he stopped.

"Don't mind me" she laughed and Xander shrugged.

"I'm too manly man to do this" he gestured at the other two, who now also stopped what they were doing. This was Willow's moment to ask.

"Have you guys seen Buffy. She was in the kitchen a second ago"

They all shook their heads. So none of them had seen Buffy either. "Maybe she went out to see Giles?" Dawn suggested and Tara nodded.

It was Willow's turn to shake her head "She had an argument with him earlier"

"W-well s-she went to say sorry?" Tara suggested.

"She was too worked up about it" Willow explained. "It's very un-Buffy"

Everyone saw reason in that. It was un-Buffy to do something like that.

"Ok well let's backtrack" Xander headed back to the house with everyone following. "What were you doing?"

"And I was standing here" Willow stood whee she had been before whilst talking to Buffy.

"And the Buffster was here?" Xander stood where Buffy had been. Willow nodded.

"T-then what?" Tara asked.

"Then she went to yell at Spike, he left and she didn't come back," she stated.

"A-and what were you d-doing?" Tara approached the clearly distressed Willow and rubbed her on the back for support.

"And I was saying this" Willow pointed to a piece of paper "As I put the raven's feather in"

Tara looked at the paper and gasped. Everyone else just looked confused.

"What? What is it?" Xander asked.

"What did I do wrong?" Willow knew that for a reaction like that, she must have done something wrong.

"Y-you c-created a p-portal" Tara murmured. It was A grade magic, but Willow wasn't trying to do that. She had been trying to create a sleeping tonic for Buffy. She was sleeping less and less these days and had been complaining of how tired she'd been.

"Ok. So I created a portal-ly thing. We'll find her" Willow tried to reassure herself.

"You could have sent her anywhere Will" Xander reminded her of the time they had sent Vampire Willow back to her alternate universe.

"I-it will take s-some time," Tara admitted. "First we have t-to find out what you created the portal with"

"Well she went out there" Dawn pointed at the lounge room and they all walked out to investigate.

The only thing alive, so to speak, in there was the static TV.

~**~

She had walked faster than she had anticipated. The trees had thinned and she was just coming up to the little village now. Only it wasn't peaceful like it had been from the abyss/ cliff. There were screaming people feeling from all directions.

"So not a good sign," Buffy said to herself as she surveyed the area. There were a few fires and some carnage, but mostly it was just frightened people running everywhere. Why were they so scared? She was lucky she always had a stake with her; it might come in handy while here.

As she made her way further into the village, she saw that a man and a woman were having a 'face off'. The guy was ruggedly handsome; looked a little like Spike because of the duster he was wearing. But it wasn't black; it was brown. His hair was longer too. There was an exact preciseness of his movements, as she found out as she watched him fire his cross bow at the woman. She turned into a great big bat and took to the skies. Buffy was amazed. "And I thought there was nothing to worry about" she scoffed.

Boy had she been wrong. She had managed to convince herself that she would be fine while here.

The bat swooped at the guy and Buffy couldn't help but feel the urge to help him as he ran towards water.

She ran to his side, stake in hand. He dipped his crossbow arrow into the water and swung around expecting to find the vampire, Marishka. He was mistaken. All he saw was a strangely dressed blonde girl with a stake in hand. Why?

"Get down!" He yelled as the bat swooped; Buffy ducked and barely escaped from the talons.

The bat wheeled in the air, getting ready to attack again. But instead of going for the guy with the crossbow, she aimed for Buffy.

Talons seized her shoulders and Buffy could feel the ground giving way. She could also feel a pair of hands grabbing at her feet, attempting to keep her near ground.

Thinking quickly, Buffy rammed her one and only stake into the creature's foot. It screamed with pain and released her, causing her to fall on whoever had been holding her feet.

They rolled across the ground, Buffy finally coming to rest on someone's chest. She glanced at the face and saw that the face was not impressed. The handsome man rolled her off his chest and made a mad scramble for his crossbow, which he had dropped in an attempt to save her. Buffy just sat and watched.

The bat wheeled for another attack, failed as it was shot with the arrow dipped in water. Buffy guessed it must have been holy water as he had missed the heart by centimetres.

The creature wailed and exploded, leaving both Buffy and the man covered in a greenish substance.

In the distance she could hear two more creatures shriek and saw them take to the skies, heading as far away from the village as they could; towards a castle in the distance.

Buffy stood and brushed the dirt and dust of her clothing. She was sick of this place and wanted nothing more than her own bed. But she knew that was impossible. She had no way of getting out of here. Where was Willow?

Just then another woman appeared around the corner of a building. She was dressed in tight black pants, corset and white shirt with some red pattern and a beautiful jacket. Her hair was long, dark brown and curly.

The villagers were annoyed at the man who had just saved their lives. His monk friend too. Buffy had the weird sense of déjà vu but couldn't quite place where she had seen all this. It was familiar.

"They will come back for vengeance," A villager yelled.

"I think it's deserved him a drink" the woman with the jacket said to the man in the duster.

He thanked her and began to follow her when he realised there was still someone stupid he had to scold. He found Buffy and approached her.

"What do you think you were doing?' he growled. "You could have gotten us killed!"

"Someone's grouchy. I was only helping" Buffy defended herself. "After all, that's what a vampire slayer does. Slays vampires"

She received a look as if she were daft but the man humoured her.

"Do you know who I am? And why are you dressed so strangely?" he questioned.

She had forgotten that she was wearing a low cut top and leather pants. Not very inconspicuous.

"No I don't know who you are. But I'm Buffy Summers and I'm a vampire slayer. What year is it?" she asked.

"I, am Van Helsing, Miss Summers" He stated matter of factly. "And it is the nineteenth century"

Buffy felt as if her eyes were about to pop out of her skull. Nineteenth century? _Oh boy!_

Van Helsing grew bored with the conversation he was having and began to walk back to his monk friend and the woman and together they began to walk away.

Buffy quickly came to her senses and began to chase after them.

"Hey! Wait up!"

~**~

**Ok. So there was the first chapter. What do you think?**

**Should I keep going or delete it?**

**Leave a review and tell me what you think…**

**THANK YOU!**


	2. Give It Your Best

**Previously: **Van Helsing grew bored with the conversation he was having and began to walk back to his monk friend and the woman and together they began to walk away.

Buffy quickly came to her senses and began to chase after them.

"Hey! Wait up!"

**Chapter 2**

**Meanwhile…**

"Marishka!" Dracula screamed at the top of his lungs as his two remaining brides flew in through the castle window and huddled together on the ceiling. His scream sent a swarm of bats flying from the chamber walls. He had just felt one of his brides, Marishka die and knew that the princess, Anna Valerious still lived.

"Why can't they just leave us alone? We never kill more than our fill and less than our share. Can they say the same?" He then began to walk towards one of the pillars in the room they were currently occupying and walked up the pillar, onto the ceiling where his two brides stood. Just like bats on a cavern roof.

"Did I not stress how important it was… to be finished with Anna Valerious… before she destroys what we are trying to create?"

"We lost Marishka" Verona, the brunette bride who liked the colour green, sobbed.

Dracula spoke to them in a soothing tone, trying his best to comfort his brides. "There, there, my darlings. Do not worry…" he hugged them both around the shoulders with an arm each. "I shall find another bride"

The brides drew out of the hug with looks on their faces that suggested that Dracula had just tried to stake them himself.

"What?" They shrieked.

"Do we mean so little to you?" Aleera, the red head who took a liking to pink dresses, asked.

"Have you no heart?" Verona said.

"NO!" shouted Dracula, as he jumped from the ceiling to the floor, "I have no heart! I feel no love... nor fear… or joy… or sorrow! I am hollow! And I will live forever"

"Oh my lord" Aleera said as she too, dropped to the ground.

"It is not so bad" Verona added as she hit the ground.

Dracula's mood changed instantly and he chuckled. "I am at war with the world, and every living soul in it!" he threw his arms up in the air to emphasize the point. "But soon the final battle will begin" he began to pace the room in thought.

"I must go and find out who our new visitor is. You will have to make a little aperitif out of him." He said to his brides. "We are much too close to success to be interrupted now"

"No! The last experiment was a failure!" cried Verona.

"Please, say you will not try again" Aleera begged him as she hung onto his arm. "My heart could bear the sorrow if we fail again"

Dracula beckoned both brides to him "Come. Do not fear me. Everybody else fears me. Not my brides."

"Igor!"

A short little ugly man with long, oily hair and buck teeth appeared from behind a curtain holding what appeared to be a taser gun. "Yes, master?" there was a shadow of some huge beast behind the curtain tugging at the chain restraining it. It howled.

"Why do you torment that thing so?" Dracula asked.

Igor shrugged "It's what I do"

Dracula shook his head and waved a finger towards his minion "Remember Igor, Do unto others…."  
Before they do unto me, master" Igor finished for him and Dracula smiled and then waved his arms at everyone in the room. "Now go, all of you! To Castle Frankenstein!"

"Yes we will try again!" the brides cheered as both of them and Dracula turned into massive bat like creatures and flew out the window, leaving Igor alone in the room holding the taser.

~**~

Buffy finally caught up to the group of three as they were heading towards, would you believe it, another castle.

"Hey!" Buffy jumped in front of the group, forcing them to stop in their tracks. Anna Valerious, the woman with the amazing dark hair and jacket, stood with hands on hips. The little monk friend of Van Helsing's kept giving Buffy funny looks and she wasn't quite sure why. _Did she have something in her teeth or hair?_ As for the fearless vampire killer himself he just rolled his eyes and tried to push past. Buffy stopped him with a hand on his chest.

"Do you mind?" He attempted to stare her down. Spike, Giles and Angel had tried this many times too, so now it had no affect on her whatsoever.

"No I don't," She said back. Van Helsing removed her hand from his chest. He wasn't entirely comfortable with some strange woman's hand being there.

"What do you want?" The woman asked. She had a thick Romanian accent. Buffy thought it was quite pretty. Just the woman in general, was quite pretty. _Where's Willow when you need her_ Buffy thought.

"Anna" Van Helsing warned her. It was quite clear that this man didn't want to make the group any bigger than it already was.

"My name is Buffy Summers. I am also a vampire slayer…" Van Helsing snorted and crossed his arms getting ready to hear her tale. Buffy flashed him a menacing death stare.

"I am Princess Anna Valerious," said the woman. "Go on Buffy Summers" she too glanced at Van Helsing.

Buffy was glad that at least someone was interested in listening to her. "I would like to help. I'm not from around here and, well, I find a bunch of vampire slayers. In the Buffy books that's not coincidence" she shrugged.

Anna began to think it over. It would probably be nice to have another woman with her. She wouldn't always be classed as the weakest then. Anna was about to say yes, when Van Helsing spoke over her.

"How do we know you can even fight? By what I saw back there you're not so good"

Buffy placed her hands on her hips "Wanna let me prove it?"

Van Helsing looked back at the other two comrades; Anna nodded, as did his monk friend Carl. "Very well" he placed his weaponry in Carl's hands and rolled up his sleeves. "Give it your best"

Buffy quirked an eyebrow "You sure?"

Van Helsing smirked. "What's the matter? Scared you'll break a nail?"

Buffy took a fighting stance "Actually I was thinking about you losing your hat, but whatever" she shrugged.

"Awfully confidant" Carl observed.

"It gets a girl where she wants to be" Anna answered as she watched the way Buffy stood. She was clearly a fighter of some sort. It was plain to see.

"On my word" Anna instructed as she glanced at both persons. "Begin!"

At first they didn't do anything but stand there. Each sizing the other up. Buffy wasn't sure if he was even going to attack so relaxed just a little, that was when he struck.

Van Helsing threw a punch from the right and Buffy managed to block it with ease even though she had been unprepared. With his punch blocked, Van Helsing swung around with his left leg to aim a kick at her. Buffy dodged that too and sent a punch back his way. It wasn't a slayer strengthened punched because she knew she would probably hurt him if she had chosen to and so had stuck with forceful. Her punch connected with his right shoulder and sent him stumbling back a few paces. Buffy then advanced and swept his legs out from under him, only to have him flip himself back up within a few seconds. Van Helsing then attacked again, Buffy blocking everything he threw at her and when finally the time came, she kicked him in the gut, causing him to fly back a metre or two and lie on the ground.

She then strode over and sat atop him, trapping his arms and stopping him from using his legs with her hands and thighs.

"I think she won," Carl murmured to Anna. Anna nodded with a smile on her.

"I think she did"

Van Helsing grunted as Buffy offered her hand to help him up; he didn't take it. She was a bit offended that he had shunned her offer, but she had just kicked his ass, so kinda understood.

"Can I help now?" Buffy grinned as she swung her arms by her sides and rocking on the heels of her feet. She looked like a five year old waiting for something really, really fantastic.

"For now" was the response she heard as Van Helsing adjusted his hat and coat. He was disgruntled with the fact that a girl the size of this Buffy Summers had just beaten him in what he did best, kicking ass.

"Yay me!" Buffy breathed, pumping her fist into the air as if she had won some grand tournament.

Anna and Carl made their way over to the two and Anna slung her arm around Buffy's shoulders. "But first we'll have to do something about your clothing"

Buffy looked down. "What's wrong with it?" then she realised "Oh"

Anan nodded "Not to worry though. I have clothes that may fit you"

Buffy looked up at her. Anna wasn't that much taller than Buffy herself. She was more Spike's height. _Spike._ Buffy mentally shook herself and hoped to god that Spike was behaving himself.

Carl had been giving Van Helsing back all of his weaponry. "She's good" Carl praised the blonde girl though not to her face, more to the man she had just beaten. The one who was now rubbing his neck as if she had cramped it. "She is" was the gruff reply.

"Shall we?" Anna gestured forward with her free arm that wasn't draped around Buffy's shoulders.

Carl nodded and Anna began to lead the way, Buffy by her side and the boys behind her.

"So where did you come from?" Anna asked in polite conversation.

Buffy shrugged "I'm not exactly sure to be honest"

"So you're not from around here?" Carl asked. In some ways, he reminded Buffy of Giles, only better. He wasn't trying to run her life and he was just different in some ways. It was a good change. Van Helsing on the other hand, reminded her of both Spike and Angel and hoped that she was wrong. That he would be some sort of wonderful person. Maybe goofy like Xander and Willow, or quiet like Tara. She doubted it.

Anna reminded Buffy very much of herself and in some aspects Faith. Except for the psycho killer thing.

"No I'm not from around here. I'm from Sunnydale" Buffy answered.

"Sunnydale?" Van Helsing asked. "Never heard of the place"

Buffy tried to explain it "Well, it's in America… overseas…"

"But how did you get here?" Anna asked. She was truly interested in the 'overseas' bit. She had never seen the sea.

Buffy shrugged again. "No idea. Probably a spell of some sort. Where I'm from they're pretty common"

Carl's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. _Spells_? That was new.

Van Helsing just rolled his eyes and figured that this girl was taking over his spotlight. He was meant to be the shiny new toy in the village, not her.

Anna on the other hand, wanted to know more and decided to ask her about it when she gave her some clothing.

"So how did you get here?" Anna asked the two men as they walked down a hallway in the castle they had been walking towards before.

"We came by sea," Carl said

"Really? The sea?" Anna asked as she looked back over her shoulder. Why was everyone she talked to talking about the sea?

"Well, yes" Carl said.

"The Adriatic Sea?" Anna asked Carl was about to answer but Van Helsing cut him off.

"So where do I find Dracula?"

Buffy was shocked. _Dracula. _ She was amazed that he existed here wherever she was. She had already kicked his ass, though he hadn't died. She had never thought that she would have to face him again.

"Ah, yes?" Carl said, adding to Van Helsing' question.

"He used to live in this very house four centuries ago" Anna explained. Buffy was amazed with all the armour and stuff in the hallway and so wandered off to examine a suit of armour that seemed shifty.

"No one knows where he lives now…" Anna continued. She passed a map of Transylvania on the wall and nodded towards it. "My father would stare at that painting for hours looking for Dracula's lair" Carl headed towards it to take a closer look.

"So, that's why you've come?" Anna asked, facing Van Helsing.

"I can help you" Van Helsing stated.

Anna was standing in front of what seemed like a weapons cabinet and was choosing certain ones. They consisted of a short sword and a long one, as well as some pointy thing that Buffy couldn't quite make out.

"No one can help me," Anna said as she began to place the swords into holsters.

"I can try" Helsing said as he raised his arm slightly in order to try and get the point across, but she wasn't looking and so it didn't matter. Buffy was amused at how the scene was playing out. She was blowing him off.

"You can die trying" Anna placed the short sword into the holster on her hip. "All of my family has. I can handle this myself"

"So I noticed" Anan turned on Van Helsing with the long sword she had just picked up.

"The vampires attacked in daylight. They never do that.

I was unprepared. It won't happen again." She hit him with the sword, but it wasn't intended to hurt him. Van Helsing didn't flinch.

"So why did they attack in daylight?"

"Clearly they wanted to catch me off guard. They seem almost desperate to finish off my family"

"Why is that? Why now?" Van Helsing asked as Anna made her way over to the pistols on the other side of the hall.

"You ask a lot of questions" Anna stated.

"Usually I ask only two: What are we dealing with? How do I kill it?" Van Helsing reasoned.

Anna was still choosing a pistol. "My father spent most of his life looking for answers year after year. Tearing through the tower, combing through the family archives" Anna said as she placed a pistol into yet another holster.

Van Helsing turned towards Carl "Carl, the tower. Start there"

"Right" Carl said and he hurried off.

Buffy wasn't admiring the suit anymore. She was more interested in the little spat Anna and Van Helsing were having and so had come closer by pretending to admire the sword cabinet that Anna had just left.

"The only way to save your family is to stay alive till Dracula's killed" Helsing told Anna as she placed a knife into her boot holster.

She turned on him, hands on hips "And who will kill him if not me? Who will show courage if not me?"

"If you go alone you'll be outmanned and outpositioned…" Van Helsing pointed a finger at her "And you can't see in the dark" Anna was trying to find more weapons. "In the morning, we will hunt him...

but we'll do it together" Van Helsing said.

Anna turned towards him, sizing him up. "Some say you're a murderer, Mr. Van Helsing. Others say you're a holy man. Which is it?"

Van Helsing thought about it a second. "It's a bit of both, I think"

Anna then smiled. "I promised you a drink"

"Yes you did"

Anna pointed "The bar is down the hall. Help yourself. As for me, I'm going to finish this once and for all" she began to walk back the way she had come. Passing Buffy on the way. Van Helsing followed her. It was as if everyone had forgotten Buffy was even there.

"I'm sorry you've to carry this burden alone" he said.

"On the contrary, I would wish for it no other way"

Van Helsing tried again. "And I'm sorry about your father and brother"

Anna wasn't phased. "I will see them again. We Transylvanians always look on the brighter side of death"

Van Helsing paused. "There's a brighter side of death?"

Buffy was confused about that one too.

Anna faced him again. "Yes. It's just harder to see"

Anna turned away so she could walk out the door and into the night but Van Helsing grabbed her shoulder and spun her round. He sprayed something in her face and it knocked her out almost instantly. Buffy was horrified.

He caught Anna just before she hit the floor, then sighed "I'm sorry about that, too."

"Hey!" Buffy yelled storming up to him. "What did you do?"

Van Helsing placed the unconscious Anna on the floor and straightened up "I couldn't have her risking her life now could I?"

Buffy thought about it "Guess not"

Van Helsing nodded. "At least someone agrees with me" he looked over at the body on the floor. "Can you do something with her? Find a bedroom or something. I need to check on Carl" He began to walk away.

"Why me?" Buffy demanded.

"You don't seem like the researching type. At least this way, you can be useful" and he was gone without another moments hesitation.

Buffy looked down at Anna and was suddenly so angry at the man walking away, she could have chased him down and punched his lights out.

She bent over and picked up Anna "I'll show him…" she grumbled as she carried the body up a flight of stairs and found a bedroom at the top of the landing.

"He'll be sorry" she placed Anna's body on the bed, making sure she looked comfortable enough and then stormed out of the room, looking for the man that seemed to despise her so much

~**~

**Well there you go guys!**

**Hope you enjoy the second chapter…**

**I know Buffy wasn't in it a hell of a lot towards the end, but I had to flesh it out a little…**

**Reviews would be awesome!**


	3. Valken

**Previously: **"Why me?" Buffy demanded.

"You don't seem like the researching type. At least this way, you can be useful" and he was gone without another moments hesitation.

Buffy looked down at Anna and was suddenly so angry with the man walking away; she could have chased him down and punched his lights out.

She bent over and picked up Anna "I'll show him…" she grumbled as she carried the body up a flight of stairs and found a bedroom at the top of the landing.

"He'll be sorry" she placed Anna's body on the bed, making sure she looked comfortable enough and then stormed out of the room, looking for the man that seemed to despise her so much

**Chapter 3**

Van Helsing had made it to the tower and was watching Carl work away on the family albums and the paintings, etc. He was sitting in a chair opposite him and was beginning to feel his rear go numb. In an effort to stop that, he shifted in the seat, only to feel sharp discomfort in his rib area.

Intrigued as to what could cause such pain, he shrugged off his jacket and pulled up his vest and shirt, and was amazed with what he saw.

There, on just under his ribs, lay a blossoming bruise. The Buffy girl had done well. The bruise was going to become very dark because right now it stung a lot.

Van Helsing pulled down his shirt just as he heard the sound of feet walking up the stairs to the tower.

"Anything?" he asked Carl, who just shook his head.

"Not yet" was his reply.

Van Helsing sighed. He was going to have to wait until Carl found something before he could chase after Dracula and kill him. Well he didn't have to, but it did seem like a good idea.

That just meant more time spent here, and with a certain blonde no less.

The certain blonde Buffy finally made it to the landing at the top of the stairs. There had been more than she had anticipated and now she was as angry as what she had been, she just needed to sit down for a minute or two.

"So this is where you like to hide" Buffy teased both of the men.

Van Helsing sniffed. "Hardly. I was about to go patrol. Make sure the house is safe"

Buffy nodded "I did that in Sunnydale, except it was the whole town. I'll come too"

Van Helsing held out a hand "No. You stay here with Carl. Make sure he stays safe"

Carl looked up from his book and glared at Van Helsing. It wasn't as if he couldn't protect himself, he just preferred to have company. Van Helsing missed the glare and continued back towards the stairs.

As he walked, he winced slightly. One of his pistols had knocked against the bruise on his ribs. Buffy noticed it too.

"What's wrong with your ribs?"

"You!" he answered gruffly as he descended the staircase.

Buffy's anger reared it's ugly head again as she made her way over to the chair the 'fearless vampire killer' had just occupied.

"I'm just trying to help," she grumbled to herself. Carl heard her and sighed while putting down the book he was currently reading.

"He may seem, umm, unaccommodating right now," Carl explained. "But when you get to know him, he's quite the charmer. It just takes time"

Buffy laughed half-heartedly "And what if I don't have time? What do I do then?"

Carl was confused "What do you mean 'if you don't have time'?"

Buffy shook her head. "Just a figure of speech. Never mind"

Carl returned to his book and Buffy just sat there. She looked out of the window at some stage and noted it was a full moon tonight; that meant werewolves. She wondered if there were any here. '_If there are vampires, there has to be werewolves_' she thought. She wasn't looking forward to meeting them either if they were anything like the bat vampires she saw earlier.

They sat like this for about an hour. Buffy and Carl talking about nothing in particular; Carl boring Buffy with facts, though she would never admit it, and Buffy sharing some of her experiences with the monk.

"Well actually I'm just a friar" Carl had said, hoping that she would stop accidentally calling him a 'monk'.

"Sorry. I did it again, didn't I?" Buffy kept forgetting that he wasn't a 'monk'. She was trying her best.

"You'll get there" Carl chuckled as he continued reading.

There was a thump from somewhere in the castle and it caught both Carl and Buffy's attention.

"What was that?" Carl quivered. He hated things like this. The noises that sound and you never know what they are until it are too late. He was never good with scary stories, how was he meant to survive this?

"I dunno. But whatever it was, wasn't human" Buffy stared at the door, almost expecting something to come rushing at them.

"How can you tell?" Carl was nearly hiding under the table.

"That noise was way too loud to be a human"

Carl saw sense in that statement and nodded, whilst trying to become as invisible as possible.

Buffy's slayer senses kicked in. She had to find out what the noise was and she had to protect the people in this house; which included Van Helsing and Anna as well as herself and Carl.

"Stay here and lock the door behind me ok?" Buffy instructed the friar.

He nodded and placed the book down on the table as he shakily rose from his seat.

Buffy made sure she still had her stake with her; it was in her jacket pocket, and then looked for something a bit longer. She spied another suit of armour in the corner of the room.

"Perfect" She grinned and she lifted the sword out of its grip. The armour creaked in protest, but Buffy prevailed.

"Stay ok?" Buffy told Carl and still, he nodded.

She stepped out of the tower room and looked back when she reached the landing and glanced down towards the ground from a nearby window. It was really high up. Buffy gulped; she knew she had to do this.

"May the gods smile upon you" Carl attempted to give her strength.

Buffy smiled kindly. "Thanks. Lock the door ok?"

Carl nodded and began to shut the door as Buffy began to descend the stairs.

"May the gods smile upon you" Carl breathed again.

~**~

Anna groaned and slowly rubbed her head as the thunder boomed and rain dripped down the glass window. She didn't remember going to sleep. Slowly she opened her eyes and sat up on the bed, which she had been laid out on. She could think of no other when she said the following words.

"Van Helsing!"

He had gassed her in order to stop her form going and hunting the monster, Dracula. Surely there was something else he could have done instead of gassing her? Upon thinking about it for a second or two, she figured that she would have much rathered to have woken up like this than to be tied up somewhere. That's what he would have resorted to.

Anna lifted herself off of the bed and began to walk, almost run, away from the room in order to find the man. She exited the bedroom with a speed she didn't know she possessed and turned into the hallway.

As she passed one of the many foyers, she heard the sound of chains rattle and began to investigate. It could be Van Helsing; it could not. She was going to find out though. She marched through the foyer and threw open the doors on the other side which led to another hallway.

"Van Helsing?" she called. As she took two or three steps into the hallway to discover it dark. She returned to the foyer to grab a lamp and then proceeded. She was no further than a few metres into the room when she heard a door slam somewhere. She picked up what appeared to be an axe of some sort and then proceeded on her investigation; axe in one hand, lamp in the other and her senses on high alert.

She advanced a few more paces until she thought she was able to swing and hit the intruder with the axe and so she jumped into view. There was nothing there except for an open window. Anna sighed and placed the axe down on a nearby table and closed the window.

As she glanced down she noticed wet footprints on the floor. But they weren't human; these footprints belonged to a werewolf.

"Hey you're up!" Buffy exclaimed as she came round the corner. She had tried to be as quiet as possible in order to give her the upper hand against these creatures. She made Anna jump.

"Oh my!" Anna had been startled by the blonde and was lucky she didn't have the axe in her hand. She could have chopped Buffy to bits.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you" Buffy looked sheepish but that soon faded when she noticed the prints on the floor.

"Werewolf?" Buffy asked.

"I think so" Anna picked up a pistol off a table and loaded it.

"Do you know this werewolf?" Buffy asked further as she stood and watched Anna pick and choose her pistol and load it.

"I'm not sure. My brother was taken by one though," Anna admitted.

Buffy felt a sudden twinge of sympathy for this woman. She couldn't imagine what life would be like if she lost Dawn. "I'm sorry," she said.

"I will see him again. The rest of my family too" Anna brushed Buffy's comment aside. She didn't want sympathy right now.

They both stood back to back and began to slowly walk around the room. The werewolf couldn't have gotten far.

They had gotten very far themselves, when they heard the sound of dripping water on the floor.

They turned to find a few drops of something just fall and hit the floor and so they slowly looked up.

The werewolf roared and Anna fired her pistol in its direction as both women fled.

As they ran past a window, neither one of them realized that the full moon was being covered with cloud.

They fled to another part of the room and tried to hide behind a pillar, while they looked for the creature.

Anna turned and gasped as she was grabbed by something. Buffy swung around with the sword, ready to plunge it into some werewolf flesh if needed.

"Velkan?" Anna asked.

"Anna" the man replied.

Anna raised a hand to his face and looked as though she was about to cry. "Oh my God, you're alive"

Velkan gripped her hand, happy to see her, then realized something and shook it off with a panicked look on his face. "No. Anna, I only have a moment" he gripped her elbows.

"But there's a werewolf" Anan was cut off.

"Listen to me! I know Dracula's secret. He has a…" The guy looked as if she had just swallowed something really gross. _Looks like he's going to have a fit_ thought Buffy as he let go of Anna and began to walk backwards with his hand outstretched.

Anna took a step forward "Velkan?"

Velkan looked pained. "Please"

It suddenly made sense to both women. Valken was the werewolf. "No!" Anna fought back tears. Buffy was too shocked to move and Anna had no intentions of it.

Valken began to roar and climb up the wall as if he had no control over his limbs at all. He writhed on the wall and then managed to look out of the window that Anna and Buffy had passed. The clouds were beginning to uncover the moon. He turned his head back with great effort and stared at Anna. "Run, Anna"

She didn't move at first as he began to grow fur and wolf-y features right in front of the pair. His screams full of pain.

Velken tore at his flesh, peeling it to reveal wolf's fur. While doing so he made choking sounds. It was enough to make Buffy ill, but luckily she hadn't eaten much at all since she got here.

"No" Anna began to sob.

Velken's transformation was complete and he now roared at the girls and was fully intending to kill them.

"Anna!" Van Helsing yelled from somewhere behind them and the werewolf glanced his way. Buffy snapped to action and dragged Anna aside, hopefully out of the way, so Van Helsing could have the floor to himself.

Van Helsing raised the gun, ready to fire, but the werewolf jumped out of the nearby window.

"Are you alright?" Van Helsing asked as he rushed to Anna and Buffy's side. Both weren't capable of speech just yet. One had lost a brother, and the other had just seen a werewolf scarier than Oz.

Van Helsing raced to the window and opened it, pistol raised, but the werewolf was already making its way across the river just past the castle's boundaries.

Just then Carl rushed in. The absence of everyone had made him anxious and in the end, curiosity had won him over. He sniffed the air. "Why does it smell of wet dog in here?"

Van Helsing turned form the window and began running towards him. "Werewolf!"

Carl reached into his robe. "Oh right. You'll be needing silver bullets then" and he threw to the figure racing past him.

"Well done!" Van Helsing caught the packet of bullets and continued on his way.

Anna looked from the spot where her brother had transformed, to the spot where Carl had just thrown the bullets to Van Helsing.

"Don't worry" Buffy began. "I'm sure he'll find him" she hugged Anna around the shoulders in an attempt to comfort someone who was going to lose her brother twice.

"And kill him!" Anna shrugged the arm off, picked up a pistol and raced after Van Helsing.

Buffy turned to Carl and he just shrugged. Together they returned back to the tower.

~**~

Van Helsing was loading silver bullets into his pistol and carefully walking the surrounding streets. There was a blanket of fog and visibility was difficult.

A shadow walked behind him, and he sensed it, turning the gun in it's direction, but there was nothing to be seen.

"Who's hunting whom?" he said aloud, fully intending for Velken to hear it. Nothing happened. He began to walk backwards, pistol still raised. He came to a bend in the road and he jumped behind a wall, right next to a coffin with the undertaker in it staring out at the sky.

"Nice night" he said as Van Helsing jumped in front of him with the pistol pointed at his heart.

"This is a bit tight for me…" he said referring to the coffin he had just been in. "But for you, it is a perfect fit" he held his hands out, sizing up Helsing's shoulders. Van Helsing turned and looked at the coffin.

"What a coincidence" the undertaker said whiles walking towards an open grave. "I see the wolfman hasn't killed you yet"

"Don't worry. He's getting to it" Van Helsing muttered as the undertaker picked up a shovel. "You don't seem too bothered by him," Van Helsing observed.

"Oh I'm no threat to him" the undertaker explained as he began to continue digging the grave. "I'm just the one who cleans up after him, if you get my meaning"

Van Helsing approached the man shoveling and asked "Little late to be digging graves, isn't it?"

The undertaker shrugged. "Never too late to dig graves.

You never know when you'll need a fresh one." And he swung the shovel at the back of Van Helsing's head. Van Helsing caught the shovel and pointed the pistol at him.

Oh, sorry. It's just my nature." The undertaker smiled, then his eyes widened and Van Helsing moved out of the way just as werewolf Velken came rushing in. the werewolf pounced and killing, and dropping the undertaker into the fresh grave, while he leapt a good fifty/sixty feet away. Velken shook himself off and roared at the vampire killer. Van Helsing raised his pistol as a "No!" sounded.

He fired and missed his target because Anna had bumped his arm out of the way. Velken ran off.

"Move!" Van Helsing chased after the werewolf.

"No!" Anna cried again as her brother escaped over a rooftop.

Van Helsing turned on Anna and began to choke her. "Why?" he yelled. Anna just managed to get out "You're choking me!"

"Give me reason not to" he threatened.

"I can't. If people knew…" Van Helsing growled and released her; Anna gasped for breath.

He took a few steps away so he wouldn't be tempted to choke her again. "He's not your brother anymore Anna!" he yelled.

Anna looked hurt. "You knew?"

"Yes"

Anna's hurt turned to rage. "Before or after I stopped you from shooting him?"

"Before" Van Helsing turned to her.

"And still you tried to kill him!" she cried as she shoved him in the chest. It hurt, mostly because she had hit the bruise, but Van Helsing didn't let her see his pain.

"He's a werewolf! He's gonna kill people!" he tried to make her see reason.

"He can't help it! It's not his fault!" she screamed back at him.

"I know, but he'll do it anyway!" Van Helsing screamed back.

Anna looked disgusted "Do you understand forgiveness?" she asked him.

His face softened slightly "Yes. I ask for it often"

"They say Dracula has a cure," Anna explained. "If there's a chance I can save my brother...I'm going after it" Anna began to turn away.

"No" Van Helsing grabbed her arm. "I need to find Dracula!"

"And I need to find my brother!" Anna spat back. "He gave his life for me. He's the only family I have left.

I despise Dracula more than you can ever imagine.

He has taken everything from me, leaving me alone in this world" she turned away and fought tears once again.

Van Helsing went to comfort her by raising an arm, but then sighed and turned away as well. In the end he gave in. "To have memories of those you loved and lost... is perhaps harder than to have no memories at all." He murmured as he turned back to face her. She wasn't looking, but she was listening. "All right" he said to her and she turned to face him. "We'll look for your brother"


End file.
